1. Field
Aspects of the present invention generally relate to operating railroad crossing gates and more specifically relate to detecting a vehicle or an object obstructing a railroad crossing gate to provide a timely warning to an oncoming train.
2. Description of the Related Art
At railroad crossings, gate arms are deployed to prevent motorists from entering the intersection and causing a collision with a train. Due to the time delay between the beginning of warning signals and the gate being lowered, many motorists attempt to cross the intersection before the route is blocked. Occasionally, due to traffic or mechanical/operational issues with automobiles, vehicles enter the rail intersection and stop moving, blocking the railroad crossing and creating a collision hazard. Many times, as in the case of the Metro North collision on Feb. 3, 2015, a vehicle will be struck by the gate crossing arm descending, resulting in the motorist ceasing operation and presenting a collision hazard.
Many attempts have been made to make railroad intersections safer for everybody involved. These include intersection monitoring, more elaborate warning methods, vehicle detection, etc. The basic methods employed are ones that have been in service for decades. These methods are warning signals including blinking lights, ringing bells, and road blocking crossing gates.
However, in the event a motorist vehicle, or any other obstruction, is within the travel path of the gate crossing arm, a collision between the gate crossing arm and the vehicle goes unnoted by an oncoming train as it does not get alerted about that obstruction near the gate crossing arm in advance when so the locomotive engineer could apply brakes to stop the train safely in time. This situation creates a serious safety issue for occupants of vehicles and passengers of trains.
Therefore, there is a need for gate crossing collision detection systems at railroad crossings that can detect a collision between a vehicle entering the crossing and a lowering crossing arm and signal an oncoming train of an obstruction on the tracks so that the locomotive stop before the crossing, avoiding a collision with the vehicle.